Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the German Shepherd Dog Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

04-18-2014 04:15 PM

SuperG

I used different methods depending on the dog....

With one dog, I used a similar version of crating a dog....since I have no crate I would let the dog spend some time in her beautiful outdoor kennel which isn't so beautiful to her since it is void of human companionship when she's doing "time" for her "transgressions". Another dog, I would groom her when she chose to be a little hellion. I figured with the grooming approach, if she didn't enjoy being groomed then she would get the drift...that not simmering down and minding meant a grooming session was coming. Oddly, enough, that one rather enjoyed the brushes and grooming. I knew I was walking a fine line as I certainly didn't want to reward the dog for her obstinate behavior and promote it. However, it never resulted that way as I assume the distraction of a grooming session took her to another "place" while leaving her shenanigans behind her.

Mostly, I mentioned fair and evenhanded discipline in my original response and perhaps that is what ingrained the notion that I mean what I say and the dogs soon came to understand this fact of life. If it meant hooking her up to the leash and collar and having more physical control over her then that is what I did. I believe there is some merit in being able to have a dog/puppy on a down/stay which is what I trained my current dog to do at times when she was being an imp and choosing not to heed my original verbal commands. Granted, this took patience on my behalf but in a short time she learned AND whenever she was acting up, all I had to do was put her on a down stay and she mellowed out. I am not certain of this but a down and a down/stay has a bit of an effect on a dog which might place the dog in a submissive posture and mindset.....I could be wrong. When my brother in law would bring his dogs over and they'd all romp in the backyard if my bitch ever got too much into the pecking order behavior, I'd give a verbal command once....if it wasn't followed, I'd go out in the yard and grab her by the scruff of the neck, separate her from the fracas and put her on a down/wait for a few minutes and then release her. After a few times of this, all I then had to do was give the command and stand up from my chair and she would disengage....eventually leading to her not being uptight over any pecking order behavior because the "sheriff" didn't approve.

Look it, many breeds like a GSD are not "plug and play" dogs out of the box...you are well aware of this just like I am. Yes, distractions and diversion works at times but there are those times where I was unable to find a distraction and at those times I incorporated discipline. Yes, I know the shift has been to killing them with kindness and all that but personally I think that approach used 100% of the time for asinine behavior has it's failings just as using discipline 100% of the time has it's failings. You need to discover your dog's tolerances, likes and dislikes as well as what your dog reacts to positively and negatively. Once you start to dial in on these characteristics your particular dog has, I would recommend that you utilize them to your advantage and actually take advantage of these hence creating the upper hand which a leader will most always do. It does not mean being cruel, mean or abusive it simply means providing the proper stimuli to guide the dog in the direction you so desire. I am of the belief that dogs in general truly want to please their "leader" but in order for this to happen a "leader" must be established. Dogs and some humans seem to share this desire...as a strong, fair and capable leader does get the respect of many a human as well.

wyoung makes a very good point regarding "don't ask anything of your pup that you can't enforce."....maybe at times it is best not to attempt a correction if you are not certain you have the capacity to ensure the correction. One last thought...taking this notion one step further...I have heard the phrase " set your dog up for success" many times and it makes great sense to me. Giving a dog a command when the likelihood of proper behavior is marginal is the wrong way to go....oh, a lesson is being learned by the dog but not the one you want them to learn. Starting off with super high percentage odds that your dog will heed your request is definitely the way to go even if the command seems not needed....but once the routine is established with the easiest and most consistent adherence to your commands, you have a wonderful base to build on.

Kill 'em with kindness when they do as you request and let 'em know when they are being knuckleheads....

SuperG

04-18-2014 02:17 PM

Blanketback

When I was reprimanding my puppy, I always said "no" and then whatever else I wanted, like "leave it" or "drop it" or "pee outside" - depending on what he was doing that I didn't want. Then I'd give him a toy and praise him very well for biting on that instead, or rush him to the lawn to complete the stream (lol) and praise him for his good pee. I didn't expect him to know what "drop it" or "leave it" meant at such a young age, and without me actually teaching him those things - that came much later - but I did want him to get familiar with those commands. And I like my dogs knowing "no" means 'that's wrong.' But the main thing, IMO, is to redirect and praise as fast as possible, so they're not practicing the bad behavior.

04-18-2014 01:45 PM

wyoung2153

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzButtMum

SuperG - Thank you for that info how do I make him know I mean what I say? I think my body language and tone are right but he still ignores...

I'm not SuperG so they may come back with more responses... but jsut my 2 cents..

Other than yoru tone and body language.. don't ask anything of your pup that you can't enforce.

So just an example would be like the command "come." Some dogs don't need the extra help, but other difficult ones, see it more of an option to. Use a long line and call him. If he doesn't come, pull him to you, and treat treat treat! (or play play play if that's more his thing). He doesn't have the option not to, though you are still giving him the opportunity to make the right "choice" Soon he'll realize he HAS to because he doesn't have the option. Not sure if this is an issue for you, but just an example.

04-18-2014 12:55 PM

FuzzButtMum

Quote:

Originally Posted by Springbrz

We did the toys everywhere/ redirect with our dog when she was that age. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't. When it didn't and she was in the "zone", we said "timeout...crate" and took our pup to her crate. Only left her there for 1or 2 minutes (time increased as she got older, but never very long). We didn't yell and it was never meant as a punishment.
Puppies have a very short attention span. A crate timeout just long enough for the puppy brain to reset is all that is needed when the other methods seemed to not be getting the message across.
Consistency and time and you will have a well behaved dog. Puppies are not unlike human toddlers in the sense that it takes time for them to "get it" and "get it right".
Patience, consistency and time is all you need.

That's a good idea, I don't want to use the crate as punishment, but they way you describe it as just giving them time to reset makes perfect sense! I think i'll try it

Jelpy - Pwahhahaha, that really made me chuckle :P

SuperG - Thank you for that info how do I make him know I mean what I say? I think my body language and tone are right but he still ignores...

04-17-2014 01:32 PM

TheDakotaShow

What do you do when she has no toy drive? I'm having the same problem but my pup hates all her toys. Except sometimes I can get her to redirect with water bottles but that's seldom

We did the toys everywhere/ redirect with our dog when she was that age. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't. When it didn't and she was in the "zone", we said "timeout...crate" and took our pup to her crate. Only left her there for 1or 2 minutes (time increased as she got older, but never very long). We didn't yell and it was never meant as a punishment.
Puppies have a very short attention span. A crate timeout just long enough for the puppy brain to reset is all that is needed when the other methods seemed to not be getting the message across.
Consistency and time and you will have a well behaved dog. Puppies are not unlike human toddlers in the sense that it takes time for them to "get it" and "get it right".
Patience, consistency and time is all you need.